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#StartupStory: Say hello to Social Path

Having launched just over a year ago, this digital marketing agency is already well on its way to changing the social media game. For Social Path, it's all about marketing with meaning.

Their vision is to see more and more personalised, on-point marketing… Marketing that actually means something. “Social media is no longer a part of the marketing department – it is part of every aspect of your business or brand. People still struggle to understand the plethora of data available to them. Essentially, you need to become a people’s person… Tapping into the people who make businesses and brands great should be at the core of your marketing efforts. The people we relate to are the lifeblood of our success,” says chief magic maker Jessica McEndoo.

Here, McEndoo goes on to share more about their P2P philosophy and her tricks to making magic and ‘pooping candyfloss’…

Who founded Social Path and when?

Social Path was founded by our creator and CEO Nick Evans. We officially registered in May 2017 when I joined.

Why did you decide to start a digital marketing agency?

We saw a gap in the market where there are many agencies just doing the ‘fluffy stuff’ and we wanted to bring our digital marketing consultancy into the mix.

Our mission is to be an enabler for both agencies and corporates alike so that their brands can make a real impact through their marketing efforts.

We add the measurable magic to the ecosystem. Striving toward relevant and personalised messaging that resonates. Making a real difference to the people on the other side of the screen.

What makes Social Path special?

Our team is made up of passionate collaborators.

We believe that marketing is no longer about B2B and B2C. It’s about person-to-person.

All our strategies and marketing efforts are based on data. We analyse and understand the true need of individuals and base our plans on WIIFM (what’s in it for me) principles. We want to fill the digital gaps and help people in a truly authentic way.

Why do you believe in people-to-people marketing rather than B2B or B2C?

No matter the industry you’re in, it’s the people that ultimately make or break your brand – from the PA who runs the CEO’s life, to the tea lady who keeps the worker bees fuelled on coffee, each person has a need, desire and dream.

Tell us your trick to making magic and ‘pooping candyfloss’?

We plan. None of our projects have not had extensive research into the hardcore digital data that is available.

All of our projects have set objectives to the business and strategic plans for 12 months. To top it all there are definitive KPIs put in place to continually track and monitor our efforts.

Comment on the current state of social media/digital marketing and what the future looks like to you.

A lot of surveys have been released where marketers feel confident in using social media. We still believe there is a lot of hard work to be done.

The future of marketing? It's not marketing. It’s connection, it’s conversation. Think the internet of things… being the brand at breakfast on the family’s smart fridge, while they ask you how to make the best pancake.

What barriers have you had to overcome in launching and starting up Social Path?

Always being asked why our agency is better than another agency. Our research showed that our P2P philosophy is before trend, so marketers are a bit sceptical as to what it is we bring to the table.

This though is only a small hurdle as the proof is in the pudding.

We have consistently overcome this by collaborating and partnering every step of the way to ultimately reach our clients’ goals with measured results.

What are some of your short- and long-term goals for the agency?

Our short-term goals are to partner with more clients and start making more measurable magic. We love to hear our clients say, “Wow, that is amazing, we never knew.” Also, we want to make our social media and content marketing workshop a monthly event.

Longer term we want to take over the world and see more and more personalised, on-point marketing.

Proudest achievements to date?

We have cracked the one-year startup-eek-moment. We made it and are on track to be profitable by our second year.

Our workshop was a hit and now six more marketers are on a mission to do better.

Our client put our project forward for international recognition against eight other countries and we now have additional funding to save lives and make a difference.

Social Path recently reported on an insurance client project that, within 5 months, has dropped the loss ratio by 29% which saves over R20m. Another feather in our cap is that one client has received an ROI of 563% with us on 2 closed leads a month.

We have, as a team, consumed more than 5,000 cups of coffee with our clients, and we would love to have a coffee with more people who just want to #SayHello.

About Jessica Tennant

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